Friday, December 28, 2018

The Buffalo Niagara International Airport has had an exciting year, including five new nonstop destinations, ranked #1 for Customer Satisfaction by J.D. Power among medium airports in North America and now they have surpassed five million travelers for 2018!

On Thursday December 27, Laura Tevens was officially the five millionth passenger to walk through the doors of the Buffalo Airport. Laura and her husband Greg, from Getzville, along with their two daughters were greeted at the airport with prizes including a $500 airline travel gift card and BNIA travel swag. The Tevens family were flying out of Buffalo to Orlando International Airport on Southwest Airlines.

The Tevens’ found out it really does pays off to travel from the #1 ranked airport!

Thursday, December 27, 2018

The NFTA hosted its holiday Sounds of the Season again this year in the downtown bus terminal for its 11th year. Student groups from Akron, BAVPA, Hutch Tech, Olmsted, Discovery, Southside and Waterfront performed live holiday music from December 14-21.

The holiday entertainment has always been a popular tradition and helps bring joy to travelers in our busy downtown bus terminal and throughout our Metro bus and rail system.

This year's program incorporated a special "noteworthy cause" to help those living in poverty within our community. During the week-long celebration of music, we collected approximately 292 pounds of canned soup and non-perishables as well as 1,200 pairs of new socks to benefit the Food Bank of Western New York and the Matt Urban Hope Center, respectively.

NFTA employees and the public were able to donate items at the bus terminal or at the Buffalo Airport firehouse. All collected items will be provided to local families in need within the next few weeks.

A special event was held to kick-off all of the festivities on Friday, December 14 including our Executive Director, Kim Minkel, NFTA's Transit Police Officer Dave Zarbo, and representatives from community partners. If you would like to see some highlights from this year's events, please click HERE.

Thursday, December 20, 2018

On December 20, two American Airlines non-stop flights took off early morning at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Passengers took advantage of the brand new, daily non-stop flight from Buffalo to Dallas/Fort Worth and seasonal non-stop flight from Buffalo to Miami.

William R. Vanecek, the NFTA’s Director of Aviation said, “We are pleased that American Airlines will provide two new options for travelers to these popular destinations. This illustrates the continuing air service growth at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.”

“We’re very excited to mark this occasion,” said Roy Wallace-Reeves, General Manager for American Airlines in Buffalo. “We know how important access to our large hubs is to customers and the opportunities these new flights will present.”

Friday, December 14, 2018

Rumor has it that a few days before Christmas, Santa decided to leave Rudolph and the sleigh at home and use Metro rail to travel around downtown Buffalo.

He started at University Station and took the opportunity to chat with riders about whether they had been good this year and asked about their wishes were for Christmas. Not to his surprise, everyone he spoke to said they had been "nice" all year long!

He and his elves also passed out treats to help spread cheer throughout the riding community. Santa and his crew finished their trip at Utica Station where they wished everyone a happy holiday season. Santa indicated that he and his team enjoyed the ride and look forward to doing it again next year!

Thursday, December 6, 2018

For international travelers, there’s a new convenience at the Buffalo Niagara International airport: kiosks, courtesy of the Department of Homeland Security. They allow users to sign up for the Trusted Traveler program, which acts like a common application for NEXUS, TSA PreCheck and Global Entry.

As Bill Vanecek explained at the press conference, “What a great deal. Here you get all three for just $50,” he said. “It's really a no-brainer.”

The kiosks are post-security, next to the NFTA Police desk, in the “beak” of the Airport. Passengers with extra time between security and the boarding of their flight can use them to save even more time later, on their next trip. Once approved, personal interviews will be scheduled and it’s all worth. The program makes any border crossing easier, whether you’re using our airport, another airport, or one of the international bridges.